Berry good

Even though I feed the wild birds in the winter, I still like to provide them with as much natural food as possible. Hence, the berries. Next year I hope to plant winterberry under the arborvitae and add a Prairie Fire crabapple tree to the backyard, to augment what I have so far.

Several years ago, I attended an Acres presentation on bower birds. Something the speaker said has stuck with me (along with the slo-mo video of birds mating): many birds seem to favor food that is the same color as they are. I don't know how accurate this is, but I know cardinals and robins like red.



Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliant', aka chokeberry, grows on the south side of the backyard.

Cotoneaster grows on the east side of the house.



These plants are brambly, affording rabbits with good hiding places. They like the berries, too.



The Lonicera sempervirens, aka honeysuckle vines, grow on the north side of the backyard. Not red-red like above, but close.



What birds eat this deep purple pokeberry?



According to Greensboro Birds, grackles, blue jays, and bluebirds, among others.

The leaves of the Viburnum prunifolium, aka Blackhaw viburnum, are turning purple along with the fruit.



The first year this shrub fruited, the birds ignored it until late winter, when there wasn't much else to eat.



But now these berries disappear along with the others.

When I purchased viburnums for my backyard habitat, the nurseryman knew what I wanted the shrubs for. And yet, he sold me one that simply does not fruit despite its beautiful flowers (Viburnum sargentii 'Onondaga'), and one that needs to be cross pollinated (Viburnum Dentatum 'Blue Muffin'). I added a 'Chicago Luster' to do the cross pollinating, so I'm hoping for a good result fruitwise, maybe even next year.

In and out

I can tell I am getting tired of the garden because I don't feel like doing much outside. Even though I could have skipped, I mowed yesterday because we are expecting some rain in the near future. The maple out front is starting to drop leaves - must be autumn! And I watered because if I did not, it would not rain. And I picked some peppers and cucumbers.

My new stove and microwave arrived last Monday.



The stove is in place, but the microwave is waiting on my son-in-law's schedule. He is coming over today to scope out what needs to be done to mount the thing over the stove.

The contractor supplied me with some new numbers, and it looks like I will be getting a new laundry room! We still have to work out a few details, but the price is where I think it should be. Whoo-hoo!

My SO supervised the delivery of the stove, and he noticed that my worm farm was leaking. Turns out the bottom level was full of worm juice. I had wondered about that, but in my usual cavalier way, never actually checked on it. That level has a spigot, so I drained off the juice, diluted it, and used it on my potted herbs. We shall see how they respond.

Today I am doing a little blog clean-up on the sidebar. Check out some of the gardening blogs I follow. Re the list of vegetables I grew this year, I wish I had been more organized and could comment on the pros and cons of the different varieties of tomatoes and peppers, but somehow there were several label mix-ups in the course of the summer. Thumbs up on the Sun Gold and Sweet Tangerine tomatoes (I can recognize them!) It was my first time growing non-red tomatoes, and I liked them both.

BTW, Betsy Beagle is responding well to the prednisone. It's so unusual to have her following me around again. Hopefully, the improvement continues.

So many possibilities for this title

At first, I could not believe my eyes, nor figure out what I was seeing growing from the mulch at the edge of my yard. My SO says it is a stinkhorn mushroom (genus Phallus, of course).

Not particularly well-endowed.



I know I have never seen one of these before because I would remember it!

Another fungi from the lawn, this one very fragile, about two inches across.



And miniature mushrooms.



Same mushrooms with a clover blossom for size comparison.



If I were a botanist, I think I would study mushrooms.

Or sedum.



The honeysuckle vine is producing fruit.



If I had unlimited resources, I would set up web cams all around my yard so I could verify which birds like which berries in my backyard.

I did more than just take photos today. There was the usual watering, harvesting, and mowing, plus my good neighbor across the street let me borrow his pickup truck so my good SO and I could take the final load of privet brush to the biosolids site. And since we were there anyway, we brought back a final load of mulch for the year. Yes, things are winding down.

Eat your cake and pie too

Now that the outside stuff is shifting gears, time to turn my attention to the inside of the house. For my back, I ordered a new mattress that is due to arrive tomorrow morning. I actually started looking a while ago, but could not decide whether to get a Tempurpedic or not. After doing some online research, I decided NOT. I don't think I would be happy with it in the long run. I know some people who have them, though, and will be monitoring their progress as their mattresses age because I know, in about ten years, I will be buying another new mattress.

Let's move on to the kitchen. At one time, I contemplated big changes for my kitchen, that included removing the breakfast bar and moving a doorway. Once I replaced the family room flooring, however, I decided that my original plan to combine the kitchen and family room into a big harvest kitchen was just not going to work - the two rooms don't play well together. But I can make smaller changes to the kitchen, to spruce things up, like buy a new stove and an over-the-stove microwave/exhaust fan. They will be delivered on Monday.

And then there is the laundry room. Earlier this summer, my contractor provided me with a quote which I thought was too high. Today, he brought his plumber subcontractor to scope out the job, and said plumber deemed the job a piece of cake AND said that adding a toilet would be easy as pie AND his portion of the job would take half a day, if that. A new quote is coming.

Speaking of toilets, if I get a new toilet and I like it, I just might have the other two toilets in the house replaced. My original plan was to redo the bathrooms all in one fell swoop, but with the new laundry area, I feel myself abandoning some half-assed ideas I had to completely reconfigure both bathrooms and the three bedrooms. Besides, I don't really need a bidet.

On a separate note, poor Betsy Beagle was not doing very well. I had been giving her Rimadyl and Phycox, but in recent weeks, she had become overly lethargic, sleeping 24/7, and uninterested in much of anything, even sniffing after rabbits. Last Tuesday I stopped the Rimadyl, and she became more alert, but was also obviously in much pain, walking in baby steps with a gait that rocked from side to side. The vet thinks she has something akin to rheumatoid arthritis and suggested we try prednisone again, but in much higher doses. That was last night. Tonight she already is moving better. Even though prednisone has some side effects, it seems to be what helps her the most. Maybe once she is able to walk without so much pain, I can build up her strength, which should help, too.

Starting the wind down

The tomatoes are still there and the zucchini has some new blossoms, but the peppers are turning red and the flowers are fading. Time to start preparing the garden and yard for winter slumber. As each garden bed gives up its summer plants, I am doing the lasagna garden thing to it, layering newspaper, sphagnum moss, composted manure, and grass clippings.

We are also continuing to do battle with weeds, but also neatening shrub beds up with edging and fresh mulch. And the lawn - after a dryish summer, the recent rains are making the grass grow, so there is mowing as well. Plenty to do, but the pace feels less frantic. And there is that voice in my head that says "Next year I'll do..." - or most often says, "Next year I WON'T do...!"

One thing I forgot to do this year was plant some gladioli. Fortunately, the local farmer markets have plenty, and my SO brought some with him yesterday.









I ordered garlic, from Seed Savers Exchange this past week. They are running low, so there were only two varieties to choose from. Since I have never grown garlic before, I ordered some of each, to see how they do. I discovered my yard shed is the perfect place for drying onions, so I'm guessing it will serve the garlic well, too.

Signs of September

The impatiens on the front porch finally look lush.



The red sedum is starting to blush.



The berries on the cotoneasters are fat and juicy.



Nothing says autumn like chrysanthemums!



The late blooming hostas are blooming lately.



Pokeberries!



Starting to put the garden to bed for the winter.



Fall planting of snap peas.



The marigolds have recovered from August.



Serrano peppers looking hot!



Sky candy.



The coneflowers have gone to seed.



What does September look like where you are?

Wanted: Tomato eaters

While I was on vacation, I invited my neighbor and my daughter to help themselves to the produce in the garden. And they did. But judging from the buckets of tomatoes I hauled in today, no one in their households is getting their RDA of lycopene. Ditto vitamin K, which may be found in cucumbers. We won't even mention the zucchini. Oh, well. More for me! I shall dine on zucchini quesadillas, cucumber salad, and fresh salsa.

I'm not much of a picture-taker on vacation, and a lot of the ones I did take were blurry and/or out of focus. But here is a horticultural mystery for you: What is this plant?





The flowers look like a viburnum, but not so much the leaves, and why is it blooming in Vermont in August? Inquiring minds want to know.

Vermont is rife with farmer's markets and sugar houses, but we didn't visit gardens or greenhouses. We even drove right by the Vermont Wildflower Farm, but we were tired and basically on our way home by then and did not stop.



There were crossing signs for deer, moose, bear, horses, bicycles, and pedestrians between here and there. We saw everything but moose and bear, but never near a crossing sign.



This year's vacation turned into a yarn tour, which wound up being very expensive. Maybe next year we should do a garden tour, as I'm less likely to buy plants while so far from home.

Water, water everywhere

After all my complaining about no rain, yesterday we received a month's worth. Five inches by my rain gauge. Now I won't worry about the in-ground plants getting thirsty while we are on vacation.

Earlier this season, my neighbor and I had a long conversation about gardening and his experiments with hydroponics. Consequently, he seemed like a likely candidate to water the container plants in my stead. Tonight, while giving him the run-down on which plants I meant (like, the ones IN THE CONTAINERS?), I said, "Help yourself to the produce, although I don't think I am growing anything you aren't." He said, "Oh. Our plants all died." That explains why he never followed through on his offer of pickling cucumbers.

And just as I predicted, the tomatoes are coming on strong, just as we are getting ready to blow town. The timing of this year's vacation was beyond my control, but really, when is a good time for a gardener to abandon the land? Perhaps somewhere between planting garlic in November and starting seedlings in February? Maybe.

Must be August

Signs of August:

1. Hot and humid.
2. The locusts drown out the crickets. And lawn mowers. And leaf blowers. And chain saws.
2. I'm getting tired of zucchini.
3. The tomatoes are almost at their peak, just as I am preparing to go on vacation.



4. Corn on the cob.
5. The forecast includes a chance of scattered thunderstorms almost everyday, but it doesn't rain.
6. Pre-season NFL games.
7. School sales in progress.
8. Some of the chrysanthemums just can't wait.



9. The other flowers are fading.



10. And some flowers are just memories.

Swallowtail mudding

Swallowtail mudding
Originally uploaded by honestabby

Experimenting with providing photos from Flickr....

Under the weather

The dog woke me around 4:30am when the lightning and thunder started. She does NOT like storms. I managed to get back to sleep, but when I did wake a few hours later, I felt hung over. I expected to improve once I was up and about, fueled with coffee, but no. Not until a long afternoon nap did I perk up at all, and then only some. The sun is shining now, but I would be happy to crawl under the covers and call it a day.

Supper was perfect, though: a garden pita made with homegrown zucchini, tomato, onion, and basil. There is something very satisfying about wandering outside and returning with a meal in hand.

I mowed last night. Once again, the grass did not need it, but the weeds did. My neighbor across the street hinted earlier this year that maybe I would want to hire his lawn service, and I admit I have considered that, at least for the front yard. But at that time I was contemplating replacing the driveway and installing a rain garden and thought lawn care should wait. Now it is almost August, and there will be no new driveway, let alone a rain garden, but I still have an unsightly front yard.

So, when I saw this book at the library, I could not resist:



A Weed By Any Other Name is subtitled "The Virtues of a Messy Lawn, or Learning to Love the Plants We Don't Plant" and is written by Nancy Gift. Naturally, I turned first to the chapter on thistle and learned a thing or two. First off, the author is just as anti-Canada thistle as I am. But I learned that other thistles are biennials and not necessarily to be discouraged. In a previous lifetime, I let one such thistle grow and grow it did, until it resembled a small xmas tree. If I had known it would produce a lovely bloom the following year, one that butterflies love, I would have let it be. Now I will have to keep watch for just such a beauty. But I'm stil gonna kill the Canada thistle anyway I can.

Devil's Plague

That is another name for Queen Anne's lace, and I heartily agree. Woe to the gardener who lets it get a foothold. I spent a good part of Sunday trying to dig it out of the birds-bees-butterfly garden, but changed tactics after a little research. QAL is a biennial, so some recommend simply snipping off the flowers to prevent it from going to seed and spreading its evil everywhere. So that's what I did. I am sure I will have to repeat this task regularly until frost; all living creatures want to multiply.

While QAL reseeds itself, further research revealed that Canada thistle, while producing seed, actually spreads best via its pernicious root system. One newly discovered method of controlling it is by spreading Pseudomonas syringae pv. Tagetis, aka PST, a naturally occurring bacterium that appears to attack the thistle. Periodically, I have noticed sickly looking thistle plants. These are likely suffering from PST. We are encouraged to harvest these sicklies, throw them in the blender with water, add a surfactant, then spray thistles with it. Best done in June, it takes around a month to work. I don't mind resorting to Roundup when it comes to thistle, but often the thistle is growing cheek to jowl with my garden plants. Roundup does not know the difference, so PST is an alternative I may try.

A solution for controlling thistle was suggested by a co-worker: if the stalks are hollow, cut them off, then pour Roundup into the hollow stem. That way the poison goes to the roots of the bad weeds without risk of spraying the good plants. I have tried this before, but I'm not sure it was specifically Canada thistle. Must investigate.

Meanwhile, here is something I have been waiting for all summer:



Yes, zucchini. By August I should be thoroughly sick of it, but store-bought is just not the same.

Some people fry up the blossoms.



But then you would get less zucchini. Hmmm. Maybe I'll try that in August.

I just can't get enough of these daylilies.



Each one is just so luscious!

The coneflowers are coming on.



These are a favorite of gold finches. They impatiently visit the blooms daily, checking for ripe seeds.

Rudbeckia and bee balm.



The bees like bee balm, but not as much as they like mint. Oddly enough, mint does not produce viable seed. Like Canada thistle, it spreads by its roots. It too is running wild in my garden.

One of my experiments this year is growing lettuce in containers.



It's doing quite well, as it gets only afternoon sun. I placed it on the chair to keep it out of the reach of curious rabbits.

The first hibiscus:



Hummingbirds like these, along with mint, honeysuckle vine, crocosmia, and Rose of Sharon.



Sunday I watched one such hummer as he worked the 3B garden like a politician working a crowd, visiting each interest group in turn. Said hummer was NOT happy to see me, however.

Speaking of birds, there is quite the breakfast buffet every morning in the mulberry tree STILL, mostly robins and bluebirds. Also, I saw a monarch butterfly Sunday. Now that I have some milkweed started in the 3B garden, maybe they will actually lay some eggs.

This is a brass manifold I purchased from Lee Valley this year, as part of an irrigation system I never set up.



The rain has been sporadic, a half inch here and there, so I water a fair amount. With this manifold, I can dribble the tulip tree AND water the Topsy Turvys at the same time. Saves me a little time. Next year, when the garden beds are better defined, I definitely will have to set up the irrigation system and save myself a LOT of time.